Weak series of quakes make tourists feel uneasy at Bodrum, Turkey

Earthquake overview : Earthquake-Report.com received a few reports on weak shaking (more felt as a light shaking) from one of Turkey’s most important tourist destinations : Bodrum. Although the shocks caused NO damage or injuries, people asked themselves whether these shocks were the prelude of more and stronger to come.To read the full story as it happened, we advise our readers to start at the bottom of the page (earthquake data) and to continue going up.

UPDATE : another experience report which reached us a couple of days after the earthquake :Bodrum : The shaking caused glasses to fall from tables, and a long crack in the marble floor of hotel floor outside (light shaking indicated).

UPDATE : A couple of weeks ago, a Turkish seismologist told me during a seminar, that he had a discussion with the mayor of an important Turkish tourist destination with important faulting zones in the area. The mayor refused to inform tourists about potential earthquakes, as he feared a possible decrease in tourist visits. This example shows that we will probably need a few additional devastating earthquakes before the mindset will be changed to earthquake preparedness. This story is identical for a lot of Mediterranean destinations like Greece, Italy, Morocco, Croatia etc.

UPDATE :Earthquake-Report.com wants to express their concern on the lack of information from Tour operators and the Local tourist sector to deal with the danger of earthquakes. Putting heads in the ground like an ostrich as the proverb says, is NO solution to the problem. The facts are simple (seismically active areas are mostly well known all over the world) and the solution also (building earthquake resistant construction and informing people about earthquake preparedness). What to do during an earthquake is so simple that we see it almost as an offense not to do so.
Everybody knows about the fire escape information on the door of every hotel room. The chance of being hit by an earthquake in some seismic active areas is even bigger than the chance that the hotel is set on fire.We plea to the hotel owners to do the same for earthquake preparedness.

UPDATE : Earthquake-Report gets regular reports from frightened tourists visiting seismic active areas. Contrary to local people who are used to the minor shaking (can anyone be used to shaking at all?), tourists are asking themselves what to do now. Well, the basic idea can be written in one sentence : STAY INSIDE, DROP COVER AND HOLD (more details can be found here).

UPDATE : An “Earthquake Experience” report from a vacationer in Bodrum : Were here in Bodrum for two weeks ,on Tuesday we had a light rumbling but on Saturday there was bad shaking and a crack apperd in the wall of the bedroom. It was that bad here that were thinking of going home. (Moderate shaking indicated)

UPDATE : The black lines on the map are mapped fault lines. The epicenter locations (red dots) can be found in a wider area. As you can see at the red dots, a lot of these minor to weak quakes happened almost below Bodrum

Image courtesy koeri.boun.edu.tr

UPDATE : Experience report from Rachel Çakmak living in Bodrum as it arrived at earthquake- report.com a couple of minutes after the shaking was felt.

I was still asleep in bed at 25.06.2011… 10:19am (turkish time). Was firstly awakened by the sound similar to a large object be moved). It shook the bed, enough for me to jump out.
We have been experiencing a few tremors over the past few days. Could you please tell me where these tremors are connected to and why we are experiencing these tremors everyday, and they are getting bigger. Is this a warning? or just the vibrations from a larger earthquake elsewhere??

Earthquake-Report.com answer : As you can see on the above map, the greater Bodrum area to the North and East have a number of known faults. As tectonic plates are in constant movement the faulting zones (not only the fault line itself) sometimes crack a little (or more). 99% of these cracks are innocent and can only be recorded by seismographs, people will not feel them. You are now living through a series of weak quakes which, as they are occurring at only 5 km beneath the surface, are feeling stronger as quakes. These earthquakes are, as far as we can see, not related to any other recent earthquake in the area.
As to your concern about a possible bigger quake to come, nobody will be able to predict this. Science makes progress but more in mapping dangerous areas, than in predicting the strength or the time that the next damaging earthquake will occur.

I was in Bodrum that time on holiday and experienced the earthquake. Made me feel really frightened and I wanted for several days just to travel home again to Norway. The worst was the lack of information… People in Bodrum did not want to talk about it, I suppose they were frigthened too. When I read this now it made me feel good, it was not only me that felt uneasy..

UPDATE : The Turkish seismological services report a 3.6 magnitude at a depth of 5 km (very weak – normally we do not report on these small quakes but we make an exception in this case)

Earthquake summary
Earthquake-Report.com received a few reports on a weak shaking (more felt as a light shaking) from one of Turkey’s most important tourist destinations : Bodrum. Although the shocks caused NO damage or injuries, people asked themselves whether these shocks were the prelude of more and stronger to come.

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Comments

We were in our apartment in Bitez when the earth shook. My husband was walking across the room and wobbled from side to side. I was sitting and also shook from side to side. \My daughter also felt it.
an experience I have never had before. A little reminder that the Powers of Nature are stronger than us.

i have just returned from holiday at turgutreis,bodrum,turkey.i can confirm the earthquake at 10.19 am local time on saturday 25th June 2011.
i was in my hotel room it sounded like a rumble of thunder then the whole building shook,lasting for about 3-4 seconds.no structural damage occurred.
my first live eathquake experience .